Five LAPD officers under investigation in death of woman

(LA TIMES) At least five Los Angeles police officers are under investigation in the death of a woman who stopped breathing during a struggle that included an officer stomping on her genital area and the use of additional force by others to take her into custody, police officials confirmed Thursday.

The altercation in front of her South Los Angeles apartment was captured by a patrol car’s video camera.

When asked by The Times about the incident, LAPD Cmdr. Bob Green confirmed that one officer, while trying to get Alesia Thomas into the back of a patrol car, threatened to kick Thomas in the genitals if she did not comply, and then followed through on her threat.

After officers forced Thomas into the back seat of the police car, she is seen on the video breathing shallowly; she eventually stopped breathing.

“I take all in-custody death investigations very seriously,” LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said in a statement late Thursday. “I am confident we will get to the truth no matter where that leads us.”

The incident came to light a day after Beck announced he was transferring a captain from his command after a separate videotaped incident in which officers were shown slamming a handcuffed woman to the ground. Beck said that video raised concerns and that the department was investigating the officers.

The Thomas case occurred in the early morning hours of July 22 after she left her 3-year-old and 12-year-old children at the LAPD’s Southeast Area station, according to a department account released the following day. Green, who oversees the Southeast Area station, confirmed that Thomas tried to surrender custody of the children to police because she was a drug addict and felt she could not care for them.

Officers went in search of Thomas, finding her at her home in the 9000 block of South Broadway. After questioning her briefly, the officers attempted to arrest her on suspicion of child endangerment, the department’s account said.

5 Responses to Five LAPD officers under investigation in death of woman

THE women of california voted to take the guns away from their men,to bad the stupis women forgot to take the guns the worst killers in the whole USA,THE POLICE GANG,now they can ROB and KILL without fear of anyone doing a thing about it,WHO SAYS AMERICANS AREN’T STUPID?????

GEE it only took FIVE POLICE GANG MEMBERS to take down one women,WOW they much be hiring tougher guys for gang members these days,I must really be out of the loop,last I heard it took at least 15 or 20 to get a women and 40 or 50 to get a man,HOW sad is it when all the members of your GANG are FAT COWARDS,makes you wonder what sewer they find their GANG MEMBERS in………………………

THE chief ain’t going to investigate anyone,the stupid fat bastard couldn’t catch his ass with both hands on his best day,anyone who’s ever smelled the dumb ass,the first thing they say when they get away from the fat bastard is did you smell the chief,I always say yea ,smells like rotten eggs don’t he………………………………

The are hyping two parts of this: The woman was a drug addict, and she resisted arrest. We already know that in every tazing death they say the tazer didn’t kill them, their health did. So we can expect that her use of drugs and the fact she was resisting will be determined as the cause of her death and not someone kicking her in the groin or any other factor. No cop will be charged with a crime, and certainly nobody is going to jail or even losing their job over this. As for the officer who criminally threatened to kick her in the groin, and then did so? Maybe a reprimand, due to the media exposure, but definitely no charges. If you know you can get away crimes, you’re going to try from time to time. Hell, our government admitted we tortured people, and then wrote a new law saying everyone involved is immune from prosecution. Cops have known they are immune for decades!